Two suspects have been arrested for allegedly swindling more than 40 million yuan ($6 million) from a woman with one claiming to be a pupil of financial tycoon George Soros and the other claiming to be Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799).
Wan Jianmin, one of the accused, is a 55-year-old man with only high school diploma but claimed to be a college graduate in finance and a student of Soros as well as in charge of an overseas royal fund of more than $300 billion.
He met the victim Zheng Xuejue in 2012 when the latter wanted to start rural banks. Wan also introduced his accomplice Liu Qianzhen to her.
While Wan reportedly confined his connections to the living, Liu went a step further. He allegedly claimed to Zheng that he was the immortal emperor from Qing Dynasty and possessed a large amount of royal assets.
Their tall tales convinced Zheng to shell out 2.22 million yuan for a pie of the "royal assets" and to buy jade cabbages in the first scam.
In 2014, Wan reportedly asked Zheng to purchase a fake financial product after promising her annual return of 10 times more on the investment.
Zheng transferred 5 million yuan in total to Wan's account through two transfers in May and July. But the money was transferred by Wan to various bank accounts of other people rather than invested.
In September, Wan allegedly carried out another scam, hooking Zheng to invest 10 million yuan in a computer company in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province.
He reportedly told Zheng that her investment in a chip development program would help her husband get his long-desired industrial land, so she transferred 30 million yuan from her husband's bank account to Wan.
However, only 10 million yuan was invested in chip development while the rest of it was spent on properties, cars and expensive medicines and no industrial land was brought under Zheng or her husband's name
Prosecutors in Shenzhen have demanded that the suspects should face criminal liabilities.
